With the start of Rochester’s Lilac Festival today, our summer season of festivals and celebrations has begun!

One of our smaller, and perhaps cuter, festivals is Rochester’s Annual Dachshund Parade, which will take place downtown tomorrow ( May 11 ) at Washington Square Park.

The event will run from 10 AM to noon.

The dachshund ( badger hound ) is arguably one of the more recognizable breed of dogs. Long and low, with a long snout, floppy ears and powerful legs, dachshunds were originally bred to hunt badgers and rabbits.

Dachshunds come in a variety of sizes and coats, from smooth and sleek to shaggy ( which is more popular in Europe ). At the Annual Dachshund Parade, you see them all, including quite a few colors that you might never have seen before!

Dachshunds themselves, by their very name, have been associated with Germany. By their shape, they have also earned the nickname “wiener dogs,” and have become associated with hot dogs ( or frankfurters ).

The old German neighborhood along North Clinton Avenue ( the Butterhole ) had the locally famous Hoss German Sausage Store ( long gone, more’s the pity ), which featured a dachshund on its logo.

Rochester’s Annual Dachshund Parade is free to the public. There will be music, much of it German themed, vendors of food and pet supplies, and veterinarians.

The Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile will be there, in honor of the "wiener dogs!"

Oscar Meyer’s famous “Wiener Mobile” will also be present, in honor of the “wiener dogs!’

The Dachshund Parade Committee is a group of dachshund owners in the Rochester area who are committed to promoting responsible pet ownership. While the primary function is to stage an annual world-class gathering of dachshunds and their owners in downtown Rochester, members are encouraged to work year-round to:

>> Provide education to dachshund owners about health issues.>> Support well managed breed rescue efforts.>> Give financial support to community organizations dedicated to relief of animal suffering.>> Celebrate the joy of the breed.

Part of the fun is seeing many of the dachshunds dressed up in costumes as they mingle in the park and walk in the parade, which takes place at 11:30 AM.

Let’s face it, the dachshund is one of the most easily recognizable breed of dog out there.

Originally bred down in size to hunt badgers and hares, their long snouts, long, floppy ears, long bodies and short legs have earned them the nickname “wiener dogs.” For people who are unable to pronounce the “hard” German “ch,” they might also be referred to as “dashhounds” or “doxies.”

They also come in a variety of sizes, as well as coats and colors. While the reddish-brown smooth haired variety is the most common, there are long haired and wiry haired dachshunds as well.

Their gait and antics make the dachshund a cute and funny dog to watch. Anyone remember the Disney movie “The Ugly Dachshund?”

They are also fiercely protective of their owners.

On Saturday, May 12, Rochester will be hosting the 11th annual Dachshund Parade from 10 AM til Noon at Washington Square Park. ( By now, everyone should know that location! )

The event is sponsored, of course, by the Dachshund Parade Committee!

Their purpose?

“The Dachshund Parade Committee is a group of dachshund owners in the Rochester who are committed to promoting responsible pet ownership. While the primary function is to stage a world-class gathering of dachshunds and their owners in downtown Rochester, members are encouraged to work year-round to provide education to dachshund owners about health issues, support well-managed breed rescue efforts, give financial support to community organizations dedicated to relief of animal suffering and to celebrate the breed.”

There will be food vendors present as well as booths featuring dachshund-oriented apparel, accessories and dog treats.

While my two dogs are mixed-breed rescue animals ( the adoption of whom I support ), the Dachshund Parade also promotes the rescue efforts of such organizations. There are plenty of pure-bred animals that end up in shelters these days.

Before people go onto the Lilac Festival in Highland Park, they might consider stopping by Washington Square Park for a bit. It will be nice to see something that is purely fun going on in downtown Rochester for a change!

State Supreme Court Justice Evelyn M. Frazee has decided that Occupy Rochester’s “contract” with Rochester allowed the “occupiers” to “request” a renewal of the “contract” to remain in Washington Square Park. It did not allow them to expect that it would automatically renew.

This statement allows Rochester’s mayor who now is to remove them from Washington Square Park at his pleasure.

However, as of this writing, city government has made no statement as to what they plan to do, or when they plan to do it.

“Occupy Rochester” could, of course, seek another injunction preventing the city from clearing them out of the park while taking their case to a higher court.

But the game has been played out; they might as well leave, regroup and make plans to make their protest more effective next time. IF there is going to be a “next time!”

As if to underscore the real lack of concern on anyone’s part where “Occupy Rochester” is concerned, precious few “occupiers” bothered to show up at Rochester’s monthly city council meeting last night. Nor were more than a handful of their cheerleaders there.

Of course, precious few of anybody showed up last night for city council’s monthly meeting. That is the apathy that prevails in Rochester. Something that “Occupy Rochester” could never quite grasp or overcome.

Now, all the mayor who now is needs to do is issue the order to clear the park. It’s doubtful that he will make the mistake of negotiating with them like last time.

And “Occupy Rochester” will effectively be over.

City government can then move on to important issues, like balancing the budget for this year.

Today is March 11. It is the start of “Daylight Saving Time,” a way of making the day seem longer by moving the clocks ahead one hour so that there will be daylight later in the day. The same effect could be achieved by getting up an hour earlier every day without the expedient of changing the clocks. Some people think that messing with the clocks should be abolished because it really doesn’t change the length of the day or daylight, merely human perceptions of it.

Today is also the “deadline,” such as it was mentioned by the mayor who now is, for “Occupy Rochester” to stop occupying Washington Square Park.

First of all, the mayor who now is wasn’t exactly specific about the date, although it does correspond to the expiriation of an “agreement” between the city and the “occupiers.”

Secondly, today is a Sunday. Will the mayor who now is send out the police in full force to clear out the park, when there have been incidents of shootings this weekend and law enforcement would be more useful in working on those cases?

Thirdly, didn’t “Occupy Rochester” file for an injunction last week to prohibit the city from ejecting them from the park? Whatever happened with that?

Who knows?

I suspect that the mayor who now is doesn’t want to repeat his earlier mistakes over this “Occupy Rochester” business, but that he is uncertain as to how to proceed. After all, he is a Democrat ( of recent conversion, in order to succeed the mayor who was during the mayoral succession fiasco of 18 months ago ), and that party bills itself as the “party of the people.” Even in a one-party city, image is all!

Which people they have never defined.

But it is a beautiful day so far this morning. Sunny. Blue skies. Warmer temperatures. I plan to be raking up the debris that has been blown onto my yard during the winter, and bagging up those damned chestnuts that keep dropping from a city-owned tree on the right of way in front of my house. It’s a perfect day for it!

Does the mayor who now is plan to do the same thing for Washington Square Park today?

On November 11, 2011 the Rochester’s mayor who is agreed to allow “Occupy Rochester” to remain in Washington Square Park for two months. This was after 48 “occupiers” were arrested for violation the park’s curfew. That same curfew is in effect in all of our local public parks. Ultimately, the court threw out the arrests; after all, if the mayor who is now permitted them to stay, it seemed foolish to convict the “occupiers” who were arrested that first night.

That the mayor who is relented was an obvious tactical error for two reasons: one, it gave a sense of legitimacy to the movement; two, it now provided a precedent for the occupiers to demand further negotiations in the future.

On January 11, the “agreement” was extended for a further two months, while specific details ( over what? ) would be worked out.

The March 11 deadline is coming up, and the mayor who is informed the “occupiers” last week that they would have to be out of the park on that date, or a day or two later. He wasn’t going to rush them!

Ostensibly, that date was chosen to allow for re-sodding and re-seeding the lawns at Washington Square Park. It would be difficult to do that around the tents that are set up there.

Apparently, “Occupy Rochester” has grown some teeth: today, they filed suit against Rochester seeking an injunction to prevent being evicted from the park until a new agreement is reached. They are relying on the precedent of the original “agreement” and its extensions to carry the day for them!

Depending upon the actual wording of that agreement, it very well might. That’s what happens when precedents are set!

Of course, the mayor who is made the worst choice of the three possibilities involving the occupation of Washington Square Park, at least from a perspective of power. He could have let them stay there and ignored them; after all, they were no real threat to him or anybody else. That would have merely eroded their glamor. He could have gone in, arrested them and refused to negotiate with them, which would have made martyrs of those arrested and cast him in the role of a bully. But then he could have argued that he had the law on his side.

Instead, by ordering the arrests of the “occupiers,” then negotiating with them, he set himself up. By agreeing to agree to agree in the future, the mayor who is could not unilaterally withdraw from negotiations without some flack coming his way, whether one agrees with his actions or not. Hence, the lawsuit!

Of course, “Occupy Rochester” isn’t covered under the Geneva Convention. And one might wonder if the original November11 agreement was legal or not, too!

I’ve got to hand it to “Occupy:” at least they had one trick left up their sleeve! Let’s see if it does them any good.

And I would also like to see what juicy terms they expect the mayor who is to accept! If there are a lot of them, and if they are extremely outrageous, he might have to agree to some of them!

We can rest assured that we aren’t living in a totalitarian dictatorship!

It was never a great drama, anyway. It wasn’t even comic opera or operetta, but more slapstick than anything else.

At any rate, Rochester’s current mayor has had enough. The “occupiers” are to leave Washington Square Park on March 11 ( or 12 or 13; the mayor who now is isn’t fussy, just so long as they go ).

And really, with the coming of the spring, it’s more of an eyesore than anything else. Which is why the mayor who now is wants the “occupiers” out, in order to re-sod and re-seed. It’s not that hard an order for the “occupiers” to obey; they are only four of ‘em left in Washington Square Park anyway!

Well, maybe four!

Television news crews were out today and couldn’t find any “occupiers” “at home.” A few did show up once the cameras started rolling. So much for the claim of its “leadership” ( now openly assumed by Alex White of the Green Party ) that they will stay until they have forced social change upon Rochester!

Well, at least their goal was modest; they weren’t trying to change the world, just Rochester’s government. Only they didn’t and couldn’t. They didn’t know how! Nor did their “leaders.” Apparently they are unaware how much at odds they were with the “99%” they claim they are doing this for, or how the vast majority were not taking them seriously. That hasn’t dawned upon them.

The tents, at least, were there, which passersby who work in the area claim are eyesores. The only visible proof of “the movement.”

The mayor who now is took an appropriate shot at the “occupiers:” he wishes to clean up the park to make it available for the “99%” to use! It is the “occupiers” who have become the “1%!” A fitting and ironic reply.

Nor did the mayor who now is accede to the demands of the “occupy Rochester” movement today. By refusing to negotiate with “the movement,” he tacitly refused to concede to them or their “leaders” the aura of “legitimacy.” And “legitimacy” is what the egos of every protest movement needs to survive. Otherwise, they can be regarded merely as a bunch of loudmouthed kooks.

Alex White, de facto leader of “Occupy Rochester,” believes that the current mayor’s “ultimatum” would be backed up by further arrests. Alex stated that if forty-eight people were willing to be arrested before and sacrifice themselves upon the altar of the “idea,” forty-eight people will again come forth to be arrested when forced to leave Washington Square Park!

Perhaps. And it might very well be the same forty-eight people who were arrested the first time. And none of them were the “leaders.” Perhaps orange jail jumpsuits didn’t appeal to them! And Rochester was unimpressed by their “martyrdom,” although it made the “occupiers” feel momentarily important. Of course, their cases were thrown out of court after the mayor who now is relented and allowed them to stay in the park unmolested. ( That was a mistake; doubtless, it will not be repeated! )

On March 11, the "99%" get Washington Square Park back!

They probably won’t be that lucky after March 11.

Unfortunately for the “occupiers,” Rochester has gotten bored with the tiresome spectacle of “Occupy Rochester” in Washington Square Park. The city was never more than mildly amused by “the movement” anyway. Neither “Occupy Rochester” nor its tepid “leadership” were important enough to threaten “the system” nor change it in any way. Their impotence in a declining city has been made embarrassingly manifest.

They ought to thank the mayor who now is for putting out of its misery a poorly directed, poorly produced, poorly acted and poorly attended slapstick comedy whose curtain should have been rung down months ago.

"Occupy Rochester:" Supporting other "occupy" movements before local cameras.

The “occupy” movement began late last year in New York City, when activists sought to express their dismay with the socio-economic policies of the United States by camping out at Wall Street. For their purposes, the choice was at least appropriate: Wall Street is the center of America’s wealth. “Occupy Wall Street” also birthed phrases such as “Corporate Greed” and “The 99%.” That seemed to be its only major accomplishment, apart from annoying people who worked on Wall Street and other passers-by. It changed nothing.
New York City is one of the largest cities in the world; it is THE largest city in New York State. Almost half of the entire state’s population lives there, concentrated in a very small area. Anything that happens there gets media attention, at least for a short period of time. Especially since the “Big Apple” also contains the state’s highest concentration of nuts, who sought to hog the camera and get their fifteen seconds worth of fame.
Most US citizens are extremely apathetic and easily bored. “Occupy Wall Street” soon failed to be amusing, and faded from the network news broadcasts. Newspapers, if they printed anything about “Occupy Wall Street” at all anymore, buried the articles deep within their pages. The novelty had worn off.
However, it did inspire activists in other parts of the country to mount their own “Occupy” events. Tepid and ersatz copies of a flawed original.
Just like in Rochester.
First of all, I believe that the core of the “Occupy Rochester” activists were sincere in their undertaking, if their goals were a bit muddled and fuzzy. Rochester is a small city, its population largely unconcerned about changing anything ( judging by our election results ) and really no longer has a vibrant, thriving downtown where protesters can congregate. Even so, “Occupy Rochester” chose to plop itself on Washington Square Park, off the beaten path and hardly very visible to Rochester as a whole.
( Those of us who were student revolutionaries and members of SDS back in the wild and woolly days of the late sixties and seventies knew high visibility was an important part of promoting a politcal and social agenda. It’s all covered in “Political Activism 101.” )
Nor did it attract more than few dozen “occupiers.” Rochester’s radicals were unwilling to put their money, or their comforts, where their mouths were. And that also goes for the people who sought to take over the movement to promote their own agendas.
Given the location, and left to itself, “Occupy Rochester” would have quickly faded from the city’s consciousness.
They needed martyrs to keep themselves in the public eye and the mayor who is promptly provided them.
Most people in the area didn’t care if the occupiers wanted to camp out in the cold without sanitary facillities. I daresay most people snickered about it.
However, rather than allow this protest to fizzle out of its own accord, the mayor who is sent the police to arrest the occupiers who wouldn’t leave the park after the legal curfew of 11 PM. He wanted to show how “tough” he was, especially since he won his office in a disputed “special election” with less than 50% of the vote. The mayor who is made himself look foolish, especially after he relented ( a few days after the arrests ) and allowed the occupiers to remain. He looked even more foolish after the arrests were thrown out of court.
This made the martyrs “Occupy Rochester” needed to give them more press coverage, despite the insincere protests of police and mayoral brutality from some of their supporters and leaders. THEY knew it had to be!
And it made “Occupy Rochester” look more important…at least in its own eyes!
So, “What’s it all about, Alfie?”
God alone knows.
“Occupy Rochester” has pretty much faded from the media, although some people are still camping out in Washington Square Park. Supposedly, they will depart sometime in March, so the park can be re-landscaped and grass seed planted. Apparently there is a “power struggle” among the “leadership” of “Occupy Rochester” ( although it is hard to dignify a squabble between a few dozen people with that term ). These leaders have their own agendas, and the one becoming most obvious is that of the Green Party. One can see that when the “occupiers” make their demands heard before Rochester’s scarcely-attended city council meetings. Which is very touching and dear, since city council has long since ceased to be accommodating to anyone but the unions and business interests that contribute so heavily to their re-election campaigns.
So, where does that leave us?
Frankly, nowhere.
The “Occupy” movement nationwide made no real changes in anything in America, except to amuse some people and bewilder others ( and to issue manifestoes of support to the various other “occupy” groups ); the Tea Parties in New York State, though somewhat better organized and better attended, had the same effect. It got no intrinsic support from anyone ( unions claiming to support it never went on strike on its behalf, and politicians and politcal wannabees speaking a good show didn’t get out there and freeze their keesters off ). It didn’t gain the support of the vast majority of Americans, or even the small minority of politcally active citizens.
Well, at least a few people got to let off some steam, even if the vast majority of Americans never knew what the point of all of this was. And “occupy” never made it clear how they would accomplish anything, a fatal flaw in any popular movement.
In Soviet terminology, “occupy” would be seen as “Romantic self-indulgence.”

Contributors

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Rich Gardner has been writing about the history, culture and waterways of Upstate New York for years. His articles have appeared in U.S. and Canadian publications, and one book, Learning to Walk. He is an alumnus of Brighton High School and SUNY Geneseo. He operates Upstate Resume & Writing Service in Brighton and recently moved to Corn Hill, where he is already involved in community projects. "I enjoy the 'Aha!' moments of learning new things, conceptual and literal. City living is a great teacher."

Ken Warner grew up in Brockport and first experienced Rochester as a messenger boy for a law firm in Midtown Tower. He recently moved downtown into a loft on the 13th floor of the Temple Building with a view of the Liberty Poll and works in the Powers Building overlooking Rochester’s four corners as Executive Director for UNICON, an organization devoted to bringing economic development to the community. He hopes to use his Rochester Blog to share his observations from these unique views of downtown.